Species: Carcharhinus limbatus, Blacktip Shark
snout long, pointed
small eyes
black tips: all fins except A & top tip C
A white
Carcharhinus limbatus (Muller & Henle, 1839)
Blacktip Shark
Body fusiform, relatively stout; snout moderately long ( = mouth width) and narrowly pointed; eye round, small; nasal flaps low and broadly triangular; lip furrows short; upper and lower front teeth nearly symmetrical and similar, points narrow, straight, finely serrated; gill slits not long, 3rd slit 3.8-4.9% TL; first dorsal fin moderately high (8.2-13.8% of TL), broad, with a curved, pointed tip, its origin over/just behind rear insertion of pectoral fin; 2nd dorsal fin with length of free rear tip equal to height of that fin; origin of second dorsal about over anal fin origin; pectorals moderately large, curved; no ridge on back between dorsal fins; tail base without keel; tail fin strongly asymmetrical, with well developed lower lobe, undulating ridge along dorsal surface of top lobe, and a notch under tip of that lobe.
Grey brown dorsally, shading to white ventrally; a stripe of white to pale grey along midside extending into white of upper abdomen; usually black tips to all fins except usually white anal fin and usually the upper lobe of tail fin.
Reported to reach 255 cm; size at birth 38-72 cm.
Habitat: Inshore to offshore pelagic, although not oceanic, in estuaries, shallow muddy bays, saline mangrove swamps.
Depth: 0-140 m.
Circumtropical distribution; California to Peru.
Note: The West Atlantic population is genetically distinct from the remaining East Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Brackish
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- In & Offshore
- Offshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Water column only
- Surface
- Near Bottom
- Near Surface
- Mid Water
- Habitat
-
- Water column
- Estuary
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Corals
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Mangrove
- Reef and soft bottom
- Mud
- Sand & gravel
- Rocks
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Pelagic
- Feeding Group
-
- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
-
- Sharks/rays
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Data
- Egg Type
-
- No pelagic larva
- Live birth
- No data
- Global Endemism
-
- All Pacific (West + Central + East)
- Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America)
- Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans)
- All species
- "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific)
- East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West)
- East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West)
- TEP non-endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- Continent
- Eastern Pacific non-endemic
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- All species
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
-
- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- South Temperate (Peruvian Province )
- IUCN Red List
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- Near threatened
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 255
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
-
- 140